World Ironman 70.3 Champs, Clearwater, Florida

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 08:00:00 GMT

Eight Ful-On Tri members and seven supporters, headed to the Florida sunshine for the inaugural World Ironman 70.3 Championships, having pre-qualified for the event. The location was Clearwater - a flat sand spit close to Tampa on the Gulf of Mexico. The event organisation lived up to expectations of a world class event, and there were enough pro athletes on show to satisfy.

On race day, the swim start was full of pomp and ceremony and the first time we've witnessed a man in a rubber suit with a blue swim cap singing the US national anthem! After a fast and ferocious swim out and back from Pier 60 (and in amongst the dolphins), huge bunches of athletes exited the water together which was only going to cause the draft busters problems on the bike course. A predominantly flat one-lap bike course with the odd high-rise bridge thrown in did little to split up the packs, and was a real headache for all athletes leading to a number of crashes on the bike course. Thankfully, all our FOT guys escaped incident and first out on the run were Stuart Anderson and Vince Kamp in fine form. After a blistering two-lap run in the sapping Florida heat and humidity, Vince stormed home finishing 3rd in age category only 1min 30secs behind the winner! Next home was Stuart, a mean 7th in category, followed by Gavin Pape and Nino Baglione, all of whom got PBs.

After the event, all attended the awards banquet held on the beach at Sand Key to watch Vince pick up his gong. The banquet proved a huge amount of fun, with a band and video of the day's event which featured our own Sarah Clark on the run in Ful-On kit! All in all, a great day at the races for Ful-On Tri!

Ful-On Golf

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 07:00:00 GMT

The inaugural Ful-On Golf day took place on Saturday 21st October at Hampton Court Golf Club. 16 players, attired in a number of creative ways, took to the fairways to determine who could take the “chapeau” as top Ful-On golfer. Interest was such that Greg Keers’ new trading website saw a flurry of late activity, “buying” and “selling” our respective performances – once everyone had finally understood the rules. Weather was varied – ranging from bright blue sky to North Sea squalls – and so were the performances. There were a number of talented players out there, although few seemed to be with our party. However a sense a humour prevailed throughout, despite some questionable (although by no means ill intentioned) etiquette, and the day was a success, hopefully ensuring sanctioning for next year. Paul Griffiths showed what he’d been doing since last spring by winning the individual competition with 41 points, followed closely by David Gibney and Phil Roker. David picked up the Best Pairing prize with Tim Phillis; Alice Honnywill was Best Female; Conan Gibney picked up the Longest Drive, and Nick Sullivan won Closest the Pin. So in all a very welcome distraction from pools, bikes and running shoes. Here’s to next year…. maybe Ful-On Valderrama? [Alex Hooker]

...and Phil Roker won the golf trading game too by correctly forecasting Paul's golfing success and the hot favourite Conan's downfall, to pick up a bottle of bubbly (but no red braces). Is there anything he doesn't win at?! [Greg Keers]

Autumn Epic, Knighton Wales

Sat, 07 Oct 2006 23:00:00 GMT

For the mobile technology dependent, latte supping contingent that ventured to Welsh Wales the initial shock was neither of those are available readily in the vicinity of Knighton/Knucklas. Cue a scared looking Karen standing on a bridge desperately willing some mobile reception so she could get her e-mails and Caelim enquiring where the nearest Starbucks was. James had barely been across the border for 5 mins when he managed to upset a local - they stopped to check a map in Knighton and some kind soul offered to show them where Knucklas was but not wanting his Saffer male sense of direction questioned , James hot footed it back in the car and managed to find the B&B unaided. 30mins later the kind samaritan comes banging on the door of the B&B demanding to know if they'd got there safely - he'd been driving around looking for cars with bikes on it. The hospitality is amazing we were greeted with cupcakes, scones and tea at the B&B and our night in the pub was great value as for the second year in a row, all you can eat and drink all evening came to £20 per head. You would think that as three of the returning group had done this last year and managed the cycle with the mother of all hangovers that lessons would be learnt and a quiet night, playing scrabble, discussing current affairs before retiring for a restful slumber well before midnight would be in order. I don't think we work that way - especially with two of the returnees being the mighty Team Ulster/IronBird contingent. Our first shock was that the pub didn't open until 6pm - we were naturally first in the door and last out, when the landlord threw us out at 01:30. Bed at 2am - alarm call at 06:30. My initial thought was that I didn't know where I was, something had died in my mouth and something was pounding me on the head. Two Nurofen and a bad boy fry up later, physical status was upgraded from "dodgy" to "passable". By 08:30 we were all at registration ready to embark on the cycle. A TV crew were there and obviously attracted to the Ful-On posse they started taking pictures of us and interviewed Mr and Mrs Phillis. We eventually headed off on the route - chat was at a minimum for the first hour or so and it took us a while to get our hill legs. The hills are relentless - there are virtually no flat sections and the rolling countryside isn't enough to sap your strength the 9 climbs each one over 13% with 2 of them in the last 10miles will do it. The scenery is spectacular with the highlight being the ride through the Elan Valley and down along the side of several scenic reservoirs. The organisation is also top notch with the two aid stations manned by enthusiastic volunteers proffering flap jacks, lemon cake, fig rolls, jaffa cakes, bakewell tart and TUC crackers and all that for £15 - bargain. Its a long way to go but an inexpensive weekend and great entertainment. Maybe next year we'll try and do it without a hangover.... [Christine Chambers]

National Sprint Relay Championships

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 23:00:00 GMT

The club relay championship was another great weekend of fun and racing. We sent 14 teams north and were well represented in both the morning and afternoon's racing. The weather held up well and the winds were very low with no need to worry about strong head winds on the bike. The morning racing was reserved for the mixed and female teams. All teams managed to get their swims completed but a medical incident meant the race had to be stopped. The race was restarted after 45mins with each team number 1 cyclist starting on 10sec intervals and the number of laps reduced from 3 to 2. This meant that everyone absolutely busted themselves on what turned out to be 15-20min time trial with most competitors being grateful that it was only 2 laps! Our female A team of Emily, Sarah, Jess and Bethan did fantastic coming in second in the all female category improving on bronze from last year, so no pressure on next years' team to collect gold! The mixed teams all had a great laugh racing as well with many of the lads also racing in the afternoon, thus taking the opportunity for a warm up in the morning! Mixed England just squeezed out Mixed Ireland by 4 mins, with "Mixed Tri Nations" a further few minutes behind.

And so onto the boys for the afternoon. By this stage our Ful-On Tri gazebo was surrounded by a mass of very expensive bicycles scattered on the ground and a lot of half clothed athletes showing off their tanned and untanned bodies as the case may be! We looked very professional with our team masseur Lucinda giving some a much needed rub-down after racing. The men's swim start was a real bun fight but I have to say I just loved it, 400m does not really give much chance to spread out the field, so as the swimmers came in there was mayhem as everyone dashed to find their team mate to tag off. It does not take long before your swim is over and you are then getting ready to tag your last swimmer before you are out on the bike. A lot of great biking was being shown off especially as everyone was passing the grandstand, I wonder why effort levels were raised just there!! The men's A team came out 33rd on the swim, but some fantastic bike splits saw the first runner head out 4th overall. They managed to hold on and cross the line in 4th place and 3rd place overall in terms of BTA teams, so more medals for Ful-on Tri - well done to Euan, Stuart, Max and Lee for their bronze medal.

With all the racing out of the way and many tired bodies making their way back to the campsite, Tristan led the advance of the light brigade to Pizza Hut and managed to get 30 pizzas delivered to the campsite - who said BBQ was for camping!! The beer and pizzas lasted well into the night and for some served as a bit of breakfast! Well done to everyone who made the effort to come along and race and make it a great social occasion, it will be the first date to go in my race diary next year! [Conan Gibney]

Granfondo Pinarello, Treviso, Italy

Sun, 16 Jul 2006 07:00:00 GMT

I like to see each race/event as a learning experience and this year my learning curve has been immense. Doing longer distance/endurance events are in my opinion more about strategy than ability and the satisfaction from completing them is amazing. The Granfondo Pinarello is a well established cycle race in the Italian Dolomites and this year was 209k long and thus my longest race to date and without a doubt the hardest mentally.

Firstly I'd thoroughly recommend to anyone to do these races - not only are they exceptionally well organised but for 30 euros you get a cycling top, socks and the chance to cycle in the beautiful Italian Montello region surrounded by hundreds of Italian men - albeit their penchant for white lycra leaves a lot to be desired - there's just certain things a ladies eyes shouldn't have to witness and I've added this to my list.

The girls line up in the same pen with the elites and the atmosphere is electric - the inspirational music starts playing - we were treated to "Fanfare for the Common Man" as we hotfooted it after the elites - I caught them easily and drafted them with no problem to finish without breaking sweat - Oh no that was a dream I had! Unfortunately my "slowly slowly catchy monkey" initial plan was thrown into disarray by the peletons of super fast cyclists who kept sweeping me along with them. I was averaging 27mph for the first 10miles - heart rate near maximum and blowing big time. Thankfully a hill appeared and the parachutes came out - it was carnage watching all the chains come off and seeing people struggle to stay on their bikes.

The biggest climb was to come second - Nevegal - 1020m at an average of 6% and maximum 13.4% - road surfaces were not ideal but the climb was fine and the descents excellent - wide roads and corners allowing you to go flat out - it was here I discovered my first problem an enormous wasp/bee/winged rat/large flying-cat-type object hit me in the neck and disappeared down my top - now when you're doing 40mph+ on a descent the last thing you should be doing is taking your left hand off the brake and lifting your cycling top up and screaming. The guys I was with at this stage all made a hasty retreat as I started shouting "buzz" at them trying to communicate my plight. Anyway the creature stung me on the stomach and then I think I killed it - I'd like to apologise to the inhabitants of the village where this occurred for my sailor-esque language - very unladylike of me and hopefully their knowledge of english swearwords is poor. Following that mishap I treated myself to visiting a nice restaurant at the next feed station and also took avail of their facilities - none of this hasty peeing on the bike or dodging behind bushes malarky for me.

At 80 miles I was swept up by the white lycra'ed "UC Sant'ampelio" boys now I have no idea what they said to me - I told them several times I didn't speak Italian but they kept pointing to their buttocks and gesturing, I assumed this meant stay close to my wheel rather than kiss my ass so I tried my best - 20miles later and the realisation that I'd cycled further than ever before hit home, we were chain-ganging at a fast speed which took some getting used to and my body wasn't feeling the love. It was at this stage that my sense of humour failure started and my toys were being scattered over the Italian countryside - my legs were burning and I thought I was going to start crying - I started trying to drop back and wave the boys on but they were having none of it - Fabio and Adriano came to my rescue and started gesturing at me to eat some food. I recovered and managed to lose the boys up the last climb and bumped into one of the guys who runs Sigma - I was so glad to be able to speak English to someone rather than hand gesturing to people or reverting to basic French - I think I booked several rooms at the youth hostel and asked the way to Town Hall. The last 10 miles was flat and fast and just a fantastic feeling knowing that I was going to complete it in well under my predicted time of 9.5 hours. I finished a few mins ahead of my helpers waited for them and thanked them profusely - they kept pointing at my my thighs saying "forte" - which I hope meant "strong" as opposed to "next time spend more time at the front - you effort dodging drafter". Overall its a fantastic race and the experience of cycling in a massive group is excellent, the terrain challenging but very rewarding. Next year I'm going to learn some basic Italian and do more of these races - they give you a big glass of beer at the end and a bowl of pasta - try getting that in Britain.

Next stop Ironman UK - August 20th - I'm a bit scared of what I'm going to learn at that one. [Christine Chambers]

Ironman Austria

Sat, 15 Jul 2006 23:00:00 GMT

For those that don't know, Ironman is actually a brand, and a very successful one at that. And you can see why when you enter one of their events. No matter what standard of athlete you are, be it pro or have-a-go hero, you are treated like a star and your every need is attended to. Myself and the six other guys from Ful-On Tri went to register for the race at "Ironman City" on Friday. There was a great buzz of excitement in the air, and lots of REALLY fit looking people wandering around the expo. We were all slightly apprehensive about the heat building up during the day, and the general lack of any breeze - it was obviously going to be a hot one. Still we continued to tick over with easy swims in the lake in the mornings, bit of light pedalling down to the race area, and finally dropped off our bikes in the transition area on Saturday afternoon. I found myself most nervous while hanging around the Ironman City, so was glad we didn't stick around too long, and instead opted to go back to our hotel, relax and watch the tour de france guys doing their stuff. Having four experienced Ironmen in our group was really great - they gave me lots of advice on feeding strategies, organising my kit and managed to keep me amazingly calm and relaxed.

After a short but surprisingly restful night's sleep, I awoke at 4am on race morning to start preparing for the race. The hotel was offering a 4.30am breakfast for all the athletes and in addition the boys cooked up a load of porridge which is a great way to start race day. We headed down to Ironman City to do our final checks on our bikes and hand in our "special needs" bags. Both Tony and James were having a bit of drama with valves, so it kept me busy to hand in their feed bags too. Last minute toilet stop and then it was time to don wetsuits and head down to the lake for the swim start. I don't suppose I was really thinking straight at this stage, as it was definitely the most nerve-racking bit. The sight of over 2,200 other athletes all in wetsuits on the beach was a bit intimidating. Thankfully I was with Charlie, Barney, Pat and Paul - our experienced Ironmen - so again they sort of kept me calm and made it seem totally normal - yeah right, like I do this every Sunday?! They'd also come up with a plan for where to start in the swim, so I just tagged along. Big hugs on the beach before the start and then we slipped into the water to line up behind the start line. There were so many other athletes and spectators, lots of loud music, helicopters overhead, hot air balloons, and all manner of inflatable sponsors' kit, it was easy to get distracted. But I kept with the guys as we just chatted in the water. Then the horn sounded and we were off - into the rough and tumble of the washing machine swim! I'm a bit of a panicker when it comes to open water swims in huge crowds, so I knew that with the distance involved it was essential that I remained calm. Thankfully because of the longer distance, the other athletes weren't nearly so aggressive as they can be in shorter distance events.

The swim course took us straight out into the lake for 1800m then round a turn buoy and back towards the beach. I'm usually fairly good at sighting turn buoys, but couldn't see the buoy at all. Turns out it was a blue buoy, which in a blue lake with lots of blue swim hats seemed a bit daft to me, but in any case there wasn't much option but to follow the crowd. For the most part, I was getting a fairly relaxed swim, not too many kicks or elbows, bit of congestion round the buoy and then back in towards the beach. This is where the sighting got even worse, as we were heading straight into the sun. We were aiming to swim up a small canal which leads off the beach, but couldn't see it or any marker buoys for love nor money. Anyhow, best to stay calm and just follow the crowd... As we neared the shoreline, I sighted some of the inflatable yellow "PowerBar" sponsored buoys, but couldn't figure out how they kept moving every time I looked up until I got nearer and realised they were being towed! Now I was really confused, as I could see people swimming up the mouth of the canal and also people swimming in almost every other direction too? Finally I spotted another blue turn buoy to my right amongst the flotilla of boats and spectators. I felt a bit annoyed, as I'd clearly swam too far in the wrong direction - still, I kept repeating "stay calm" in my head, and I managed to turn the buoy and head for the canal. The canal was really strange - it was lined either side by loads of spectators and the noise was incredible. It was also very shallow and very crowded with swimmers, so once you were in it, there wasn't really much opportunity to move past people, so I just held my place and followed the crowd. There were a few weeds being passed along the group, which kind of freaked me out a bit, but those same words "stay calm" rang out again in my head. After about 300m it was finally time to exit the swim and head onto the bike. As I got hauled out of the water by the many helpers I spotted my swim time on the big clock - 1:06. Brilliant, that's exactly what I'd hoped for!

So back through transition, grab our swim-to-bike bags, rip off the wetsuit and don the bike socks, shoes, helmet and sunglasses, and slather on the sun cream. So off onto the bike, out past the crowds, and two 90km laps ahead of me. The bike course was awesome, it took you out along the lakeside, then up and over a small pass down to another alpine lake for a 30km loop which included one climb, and a longish stretch of "false flat" into a headwind before a relatively fast section back towards the end of the loop, and then the final loop back towards Klagenfurt and the hilliest section of the course which took in the fabled Rupertiberg climb, before descending back towards the town. It seemed like every corner you turned you were looking at another postcard view - the scenery was that stunning. Soon after getting on the bike, Pat came whizzing past me wishing me luck. Jeez, he must have had a good swim creating a vortex around him doing breaststroke! About 10k later Charlie and Tony passed me in quick succession with a few more words of encouragement, always welcome.

The amount of support on the bike course was unbelievable - the locals really take the race to heart and come out en masse to support for hours on end. They were making loads of noise with hooters, cowbells and those funny blow-up sticks you bash together. Every athlete had their name on their race number, so lots of encouragement for "See-o-ban" and cries of "zouper", "hup, hup, hup", "allez" and "bravo". All great to hear! Occasionally there was the odd Irish person in the crowd (or at least someone who knew how to pronounce my name), so I'd get a "Go on, Siobhan" and feel doubly encouraged. Both the big climbs on the first lap had huge crowds on them yelling and screaming, and the crowd parted as you made the ascent - made me feel like a right little hero, despite not being the best climber in ze world! There were feed stations every 20km on the course, with one at the top of each of these climbs pumping out really loud music - a great atmosphere and it all felt like some mad kind of party, but kept you going all the same. The first lap of the bike went extremely well - I managed to stick in the aero position, and my feeding & drinking strategies (which are key to Ironman survival) were going pretty much to plan. The lap ended with a dead turn in the road back near Ironman City. This was great, as they'd put up grandstands on either side of the road, which were packed with supporters and there was loud music pumping out and a load of cheerleaders just by the turn - brilliant! Soon after the turn was the special needs station, and as if by magic (all done on the timing chip), there was a nice young man holding out my numbered bag for me to grab on the way past. Great - I really fancied tucking into my peanut-butter sandwich now. Nice bit of solid food to keep me going. Didn't fancy ham & cheese though, so just tossed that one back.

By the time I got to the 30k loop on the second lap I was starting to tire - I spotted Barney on the return stretch of the loop, looking strong and focussed (ie. he didn't see me!). Now my bum was really starting to hurt - not enough padding in tri shorts, I had a dull ache in my left knee and the soles of my feet were sore in my bike shoes. Not good, but hopefully not going to affect me on the run. The stunning scenery wasn't doing much for me either by this stage, and the false flat seemed to drag on forever. Soon after this, Paul came passed me with a few words of encouragement which really helped. I was playing a game now - every time I spotted two athletes with the same name I'd think, "snap". Silly game, but there were so many European names out there it kind of passed the time. My last climb up Rupertiberg was a bit quieter than the first. The crowds had thinned out now and been bussed back to town to watch the pros on the run. One of the towns was still pumping out the music and the guy on the microphone announced "See-o-ban Brownlow aus Gross Bretagne" which really made me laugh. I tried hard not to think about the run, but somehow my mind kept wandering back to it. Not long now... I was really happy to get back to town, it was kind of hot now (35 degrees) and not much shade on the bike course. The wind helped cool me down a bit, but I knew the run course was shadier and there would be more opportunity to chuck water over my head. So back to transition and pressed the lap time on my watch - 6:07 for the bike. Brilliant - ahead of schedule!

Someone grabbed my bike from me as I ran through transition and then I went and found my bike-to-run bag, and again slathered on the sun cream. Right, just me and the legs now, off we go... After spending so long in my hard bike shoes, my running shoes felt like springy mattresses on my feet - really bouncy. The run course consisted of two laps with two "forks" to each lap, but thankfully a flat course. The first fork took you down the side of the lake for 7km before returning back to transition, then the second fork took you up into town then back to transition, and repeat - simple, no?! Soon after leaving transition, I passed Charlie coming back the other way - quick high five and gone. About 10 mins later I spotted James - but too focussed to see me, and some time later I saw Paul looking really strong, so got a wave from him. Actually I was feeling pretty strong myself, my feeding and drinking had gone well so far and there were feed stations every 2.5k on the run. As we neared the turn to come back up the lake again, we were shunted left along a gravel track which seemed a bit bizarre. It took us onto a sunbathing beach next to the lake - lots of topless women (which the boys all seemed to enjoy!), and again big crowds of people encouraging you - "zouper", "bravo"! Between the feed stations it seemed every household was joining in the fun - lots of kids offering water-soaked sponges, guys with hosepipes and sprinklers and one guy who'd rigged up a power shower. Fantastic for cooling down in the heat. Quick shout from Barney, high five with Pat and a shout from Charlie on the way back. Saw James again, still focussed... No sign of Tony, must have missed him.

As I started out on the fork into town, the wheels started to come off a bit. My stomach felt entirely bloated and was starting to cramp. As I reached 18km I was in all sorts of bother, and couldn't imagine doing another lap - this was going to be torture. Strange thing was, my legs felt absolutely fine, it was just my stomach. I spotted Barney, then Pat, then Charlie again - all now into the last 8k of their run. Nice to see some friends. I tried to stand up and run tall again, and after about another 10km it eased off. Finally I saw Tony coming back out from the lakeside loop - fantastic, we're all doing well! There were lots of people walking now, but I just carried on walking the feed stations to make sure I got enough fluid down me, then back into a trot. My stomach was easing up and looking at my time and doing my sums I realised I could break the 12-hour mark. I also reckoned I could get the marathon done in under 4:30 if I put my mind to it. This spurred me on and the last 6 or 7 km of the run I felt really good. Final high five from Tony as he was completing his marathon, and cheers again from the Thames Turbo supporters. The fork into town took you through some pedestrian streets with sidewalk cafes and loads of great crowd support. I'd noticed by now that if you showed any glimmer of life behind your eyes when the crowd cheered for you, they felt encouraged to cheer some more. Just what I needed - "Bravo, See-o-ban!" As I headed back towards Ironman City and the finish I was now on the home straight, desperate to do my sub-12 and my sub-4:30, running strong. I left the course and entered the finishing straight along the lake and round the corner to the grandstands. The music was pumping, the crowd was going nuts, the cheerleaders were still dancing - and all this for me (or so it seemed!). Fantastic - I'd finally finished in 11:55:44, and my marathon split was 4:29!!

It's a weird sensation crossing the finish. You feel elated. You feel very emotional. A helper comes straight over to check on you, hand on your shoulder, steering you through the mayhem, then you're into this open area out the back and there are just bodies everywhere collapsed on the ground, wrapped in foil blankets, being attended by medics. It's all quite alarming. My helper kept asking if I was ok and seemed to look deep into my eyes, just to check I wasn't lying. He told me how to get to the finishers tent, then he was gone. I felt totally lost, I'd forgotten everything he'd said - but I knew there were some Jacuzzis somewhere because Tongy told me there were last year! I wandered around in a bit of a daze and eventually found the finishers aid station tent. I staggered through the food tent and out the other side, and there was the Jacuzzi with Barney, Pat and Paul in it. Phew! But not phew really, I was feeling really bad. My stomach was in rag order, I had a blister on my right foot and my shoe was soaked in blood. The next hour or so, my body was in total turmoil. My stomach was really bad, after the Jacuzzi I was freezing, I had a quick massage on my legs, but couldn't stop shivering but there didn't seem to be anywhere to change. I looked around, and there was no dignity left now. The place was littered with collapsed bodies and people being stretchered off into the medical tent and put on drips. People just stripping off naked in front of everyone to get changed into warm dry kit. So wrapped in my foil blanket, I just had to join them and eventually got myself warm and dry and beginning to feel a little more human. Wasn't prepared for that bit! We managed to get the gang together again, and helped each other out as we took it in turns to have wobbly patches. We stayed on in Ironman City to watch the final finishers before the 17 hour cut-off at midnight and the fireworks, and sitting there in the grandstand enjoying the party atmosphere, I finally felt an enormous sense of achievement about the day, and how well we'd all done. And now I was an Ironman too - sweet! [Siobhan Brownlow]

Ironman France

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 23:00:00 GMT

The ambition of almost every triathlete is to complete the ULTIMATE: The IRONMAN. After 3 years in the Club, a lot of people have accomplished this very, very, very long distance and talked about it with passion... At the end of the 2005 season, I registered for the event in my country of origin, Ironman France in Nice (and it is nice in Nice... too easy). As usual for every event, I gathered a huge amount of information to discover this other world where people endure pain and glory... But, I just wonder: Why do I want to do the ultimate endurance event? What I am looking for? Am I crazy or does something else push me to do it?

First thing: the training. In the book they were talking about 15 to 20 hours of training a week. Ooops, no way I could do it. However - I was motivated to do it for 7 months. Second thing to consider: My swim is pretty poor and I don't know if I can do the distance...2 or 3 times in the lake will do ???!!!! Very optimistic... Third thing: I have never run a marathon. But I am very, very, very motivated... but scared.

7 months later, we arrive at D-day -4. Oh God!, already?, I haven't seen the time pass. Summary of my training: Few swims in the lake, few long distance rides and a few half marathons, definitely not enough, but I am very very motivated... but very, very scared now.

D-day-3: Arrived in nice Nice, and the first impression when I get out of the plane is "F..., it is boiling up here!!!!!!" The difference in temperature with "sunny" London is incredible. Sweating like a pig, I arrived at the hotel and started to unpack and build my bike (Zebra, at least, will be ready...). I go to the village to register and discover the Ironman world for the first time. As usual, everybody looks superfit, supersharp... now I am bloody scared... "What I am doing here?" Registration done, I am amazed by the amount of goodies you can receive (bag, Tshirts, magazines, pasta party invitation,...) and all the support by the organisation team: First impression "Absolutely fantastic". You feel like you are part of something big...

D-day-2: Rest, a bit of cycling in a suburb of Nice (very nice scenery) around 60km at steady pace with an hour coffee break at the terrace of a cafe. At 8pm, Pasta party with the crazy bunch of South African (I can confirm, they are mad...but very cool...). Football: France wins against Togo...

D-day-1: Rugby: France plays against South Africa, and guess what? Wins (sorry guys...). Bike registration in the aftenoon: I have to park Zebra and can observe the others. Conclusion: I can see some fantastic bikes and still everybody looks fit and sharp (some of them display the ironman tatoo, and still the same question "What am I doing here?"). It is 4pm and I think about eating something like pasta and try to go to bed at 7pm. Sleeping: mission impossible... everything is in my head... I cannot sleep at all. After maybe 2 hours of sleep, it is already time to get up (3h30am). I will be in the bike park at 5am to check everything.

D-day THE RACE: Ready for the big day! I take all my stuff - check, double check, triple check... I have everything. Outside it's pitch black. After walking few metres in the street, I am already sweating... I can not believe it... it is only 4h30am. I arrive in the transition area where everybody is looking stressed. Some finish their night's sleep by the side of their bike, some stretch, some wait for the last toilet stop (I won't tell you in which category I was). 6h20: I am going to the start line... pressure, pressure, pressure... Already hundreds of people are here to support (absolutely incredible). I say good luck to the South Aficans and go to the top left of the crowd to get a clear swim. The stress is at its maximum and my heart rate as well. The DJ raises the atmosphere. Supporters shout to encourage the competitors. Suddenly, I can hear the horn... GO!!!!!!!... It's the beginning of a very long day.

Swim: The sea is warm (even at 6h30am), clear blue (when I put my head down), very salty... I miss Heron lake so much, not! My plan is to have a clear swim to keep my energy... no fighting... no wasting energy. Everyone knows about my fantastic sense of orientation: How many times does someone in a canoe have to show me the way (at one point, I think I saw Monaco)! The sensation in the salty water is different: the inside of my nose starts to burn, my mouth feel dry with a horrible taste of salt... my wetsuit starts to cut my arm and my neck after 1000m. But everything is fine. I get out of the water after the second lap (I have maybe done 4100m instead of the 3.8km) I feel fine, not too tired and have plenty of energy for the bike. Get a quick shower to rinse, into transition area and quickly onto the bike...

Cycle: Starts on "la promenade des Anglais" with the wind in my face (I am sure when I will come back the wind will push me to T2). I already overtake a few people... (I can hear Nino say "Don't push to much on the bike"). So, I keep a steady and comfortable pace all through the bike. First hill: 500m climb which is quite nasty, but I am quite comfortable (thanks to Box Hill). Nice scenery around me and after a few kilometres, I discover the hill (20km of climbing in the middle of nowhere with only rocks to look at). It is very, very hot... Still overtaking a few people, feeling comfortable and thinking about drinking a lot. Arrive at km 70 and it is special needs, so I get my bottles, my ham and cheese sandwich, a few nuts and go again. Now it is flat and I try to eat, but only half of the sarnie goes into my mouth and another energy bar (I cannot swallow this bloody food), so instead I drink a lot of energy drink and water. Around Km 100, I feel ok and start a long descent... On my own on this road, I start thinking about different things - about my life, people I love, people I lost... These feelings were very strange and sometimes I had to put myself together to keep my concentration... I pass a few nice little villages where the atmosphere is like the "tour de France": Music, people supporting... I think they see strangers once a year (only for the Ironman). Km 150, my feet start to burn, my soles are very, very, very painful and every stroke is a nightmare, the last 20 km were the longest ever... Even the wind was still in my face for the last 10 km????!!!!!! Now I just pray for my feet get better and think about the marathon. I arrive in T2, supporters on the promenade still cheering (are they never tired of cheering everyone?). I get out of my cycling shoes (my feet are as new: no pain. Strange???). Go into the tent to change and get myself ready for the run. There are girls here to help put on suncream and see if you are ok. In the tent, some people are already like zombies and will never finish the race. I want to change my shorts, but there are lots of girls around (I am a shy guy)... Whatever, I put my race number on the front and get changed in front of everyone... (now I have a good reason to leave T2).

Run: The first 10 km was ok, I stop at the stations, get drinks, and go again. I was at 9h21min (hoping to finish inside 12 hours)... And suddenly, after maybe 12km, no energy at all, nothing left. I feel empty and start to walk. A few times I order my legs to run but no way, nobody downstairs... I think I didn't get enough food on the bike (damn!!!! mistake of a beginner). At the next station I got a piece of orange, cake, dried fruit, and a gel. I start to run again, but the heat is terrible. Around me, some competitors are in the grass or the road, sleeping or with medics... I am actually exhausted but I want to finish, even if I have to crawl on the road. For the last 10km my energy is back because of the food I managed to take, and I was feeling better and had a "descent" run until the finish.

The finish line: I just saw the km 42 written on the floor and said to myself "That's it, it is finished". I had a mixed feeling of joy, deception (for the time) and something else I can't describe. The last 200m, I will call "the crazy corridor": People are cheering even louder, it is absolutely mad and so great... the flash of the cameras, and the finish line... and that's it. After 13h26min 20sec, it is really, really, really finished. And now I am in the after race section. The adrenaline is going down. One of the girls from the support team welcomes me and asks me if I am ok (I think I am ok). I feel a bit lost, I release and I don't know what to do first. The guys from the Club are here and congratulate me and I do the same... Get my medal and I just realise what I have just accomplished: I am an IRONMAN and ready to do many more... Next one planned will be South Africa Ironman in March 2007. [Yannick Dubos]

European Championships Autun, France

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 07:00:00 GMT

Five Ful-Ons joined the GB team in Autun (the really hot bit in the middle of France) for the European Championships. In typically French fashion the event organisation and location were "magnifique," with the swim and run based at the lake on the edge of town, and the bike course heading into the forest behind. The bike course recce left everyone a little nervous over their choice of bike/wheels/brakes (not helped by "Danger" signs and bales of hay round some of the corners of a very tricky descent), although the promised 6k climb out of town was steady rather than overly steep. However once again though nobody seemed to have explained to the organisers that Olympic distance is 40 rather than 45k, and that we'd have been quite OK with a 10k run rather than 11. Another case of "more" not actually being "more"?

Team formalities having been dealt with early on Sunday morning, together with photos (devilishly handsome group, don't you think?) we all set off in the same wave (Men: 20-40) at 3pm. The swim was designated non-wetsuit as the water temperature was (at 23 degrees) a risk to dehydration - not something we've encountered at home! And finally the start. After the hooter a good age group split ensued over the single lap, meaning those of us in the middle of the pack could generally find someone's feet for a tow. Then a disoriented clamber up a steep bank (30m or so) to transition, albeit cheered on by the crowds. And out to the hills on the bike. The marshalling was certainly thorough, with a few penalties dished out by the bike marshals to those drafting, who seemed particularly vigilant with those going up hill. Then a fast flat plateau, a potholed forest road, another bit of quick stuff, and a fast descent into town (I clocked 75kph at one point). After 2 laps it was into transition for the run - 4 laps of the lake on a selection of pavement, cinder, sand, dust, gravel, thick grass, tarmac and carpet, with another visit to the steep swim exit every lap just to break your rhythm. And a thunderstorm, just for good measure.

Euan was top of the Ful-Ons, coming 6th in category (15th overall), followed by Stuart (17th in category, 62nd overall), yours truly (18th/71st), John (25th/94th) and Alex (32nd/120th). The French put out a very strong team, and seemed to take most of the top places in each category, but the plucky brits will be back... A tough weekend, but with a bottle of Bourgogne, an event cap and some free boxer shorts in your goody bag, well worth it. John Lunt take note (of the former rather than the latter...). [Alex Hooker]

UK Ironman 70.3 - Exmoor

Sat, 17 Jun 2006 23:00:00 GMT

Ideal preparation for a race usually involves trying nothing new on race day, arriving in adequate time to ensure meticulous set-up, doing thorough research of the course layout and then eating well and getting a good nights sleep. Given Jo Knight's and my combined efforts at the weekend I've got the following advice:

Don't arrive at the venue 3 hours after the compulsory race briefing and just before transition closes
Don't choose getting an ice-cream ahead of finding the stressed Head Coach to give him his race wheels to put onto his bike
Don't choose a hotel next to a historic bell tower which chimes every hour on the hour thus ensuring little to no sleep
Don't use a bike you've never used before and have just picked up brand new
Don't use tri-bars for the first time ever (and especially not on descents)
Don't use a wetsuit you've never used before that is a size too small
Don't run with a sore knee
Try not to cut your foot open at the start of the swim

Fortunately, the rest of the Ful-On posse were much better prepared and put in some excellent performances including several qualifiers for the Inaugural 70.3 World Championships in Florida this year. Jo and I turned up late on the Saturday to a disco atmosphere pumping out Max's favourite Blue's Greatest Hits album - he knew all the words and was singing along merrily whilst racking his bike. Everyone else had long since registered and racked and were no where to be seen. So it was off to the historic little town on Dunster for a slap up meal and a sound nights sleep - not! Dunster must have the least parking spaces of any place I've visited and a Bell Tower that rings every hour on the hour with a special 5 min effort at 1am. We awoke at 4am feeling shattered and made our preparations to leave which involved practically shoe-horning Jo into the wet-suit.

On arrival at the venue the American MC was working the crowd with his banter and one tri club were very excited to see us asking about our naked calendar and was Miss June around to do autographs?

The swim was fine despite Jo cutting her foot on the way in although the water worryingly warm after the boys had been in it, the bike hilly, hilly but the roads good and the support in places very vocal. Special thanks to Trish from Cherwell Tri Club for persuading me to do the run when I was blatantly going to drop out after the bike and to the support from all the marshalls who were excellent and to the the doctor whose advice I ignored and limped out onto the run. On the plus side my new bike felt fine and I didn't manage to crash it this time - phew. [Christine Chambers]

Ironman Lanzarote: 'The Toughest Ironman in the World'

Fri, 19 May 2006 23:00:00 GMT

"Your Ironman charisma is not complete without doing this race" - Paula Newby-Fraser after the 1997 race. With a billing such as this, you clearly would not be of sound mind to enter such an event, therefore it probably came as no surprise that Dan Mertens and myself (Tongy) entered this event without hesitation at the end of the 2005 season. After putting our name on the start list we received many and varied comments ranging from pro-triathletes questioning why would you want to do that race, to comments from amateurs such as Hanley, just having a big smirk on his face and probably laughing very deeply at us.

Race week arrives and out we ventured to Lanzarote. Just being on the island and experiencing the wind, hills, heat (and did I mention wind?) was enough to convince us that this is clearly not a well thought out plan!

On Saturday our day started as we approached transition in the wee hours just after 5am. We crossed paths with the revellers as their day was ending and they staggered from the bars (they looked very confused seeing 1,000 triathletes invading their territory). At precisely 7am the gun sounded and the elites and young ones such as Dan were off. The oldies (me) got to go 1 minute later to save congestion at the first buoy. Well to say I was petrified at this stage was an understatement, but off I went. The swim goes as normal - swim a few strokes in between ducking hands and feet (I do apologise to the person whose head I dunked as I tried to swim).

Out of the swim into transition, lather on the sunscreen and jump on our trusty steeds. Lanzarote is not kind to cyclists and today was definitely no exception (the most challenging bike course in the Ironman circuit). Within 5 mins of the bike we were buffeted around the road like rag dolls (gusts of up to 45kph!), leaning heavily into the wind just to stay upright and at times on what seemed a flat road struggling to do 12kph, this was going to be a long day. The bike is best described as brutal - the rough roads combined with all the other elements make this a ride to conserve energy on and not beast it. By about 140k of the 180k I was absolutely worn out and just tried to survive the last 40k and cruise back into town. Many questions were going through my mind, including how can I run feeling like this? On my way back in to town I managed to spot the tall German powerhouse running - Dan was around 2k ahead of me or was he on his second lap of the run? I finally made T2 and with my bike taken from me it was time to walk and find my running shoes and legs.

Helpers at Ironman races are always amazing and today was no exception - offered a seat and water in transition, I gladly accepted and was duly smothered in sunscreen. The helpers told me that everyone was shattered. Out I staggered from T2, I did not want to continue but did not want to quit - what to do? There was only one option: try to run. So I ran out through the crowd, past Alyson and Nhon (our dutiful supporters) and I pressed on to the first aid station. Even though I hurt, I had run a full kilometre (or stagger), so whilst I could run I would. Just before the third aid station Dan and I crossed paths, I now had a reference point Dan was 1.7k ahead and was good motivation to keep me running. And I was a motivation for him to stay ahead of me. When I achieved 1 lap of the 4, another 3 still seemed impossible. Again passing Alyson and Nhon, I stopped for a chat. Alyson chastised me for stopping and told me to keep going, so I pressed on and realised I was gaining on Dan. My goal was to keep the same pace.

As I approached half way, Dan was almost in sight and over the next 3k I caught up to him. His only comment was "See you at the finish". I wanted him to run with me, but it was evident that we both had our own pace and neither of us could change. Both of us seemed to be in the same state, we were too exhausted to even hurl abuse at each other! I now had a new motivation to stay ahead of Dan and finish sub 13hr, and Dan too wanted to get under the 13hr. The last lap always seems longer. Finally the last turn around, my final visit to each aid station of which I always thank the helpers as these guys are great motivation and do a superb job. I climbed the last hill and the finish line was in sight - I was going to go under 12.45! In the finish chute I stopped to thank Alyson, grabbed the Aussie flag and crossed in 12.43. Not far behind me was Dan in 12.56, both of us absolutely exhausted.

It was at this stage that Alyson became carer for me (again) and whilst I sat and shivered she looked after my bike, bags, food, drink, everything. It was also then that I realised we did it - Dan and I have finished the toughest Ironman in the world, and our Ironman charisma is now complete - but what about you? Hate to see anyone miss out.

As our day ended we limped from transition and once again we crossed paths with the revellers we had seen in the morning, although this time they looked fresh - a night of partying was just beginning for them. It was only 17 hours ago that we crossed paths for the first time, the circle was complete. I do hope they are having as much fun as us!

So overall for this epic report I think that a British Triathlon club such as Ful-On Tri could not be better represented than by a German and Australian, but how come none of you tough manly Brits do the tough races? Come on Hanley, Randle, Phillis, Leahy and others - you know who you are. Isn't it time we saw you on the start line for this tough race in 2007!

My final word is to acknowledge the rock and support Alyson was to get me to Lanzarote, onto the start line and to the finish. This is one race I could not have done without her. I was really petrified and she pulled me through, and I am sure that Dan would say the same for Nhon. [Tongy - 5 time Ironman Finisher]

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